South Korean chipmaker Hynix has turned in its first quarterly profit in 18 months.

The company, which until last year was close to collapse under the weight of heavy debts, said it made 133.9bn won ($113m; £68m) in the three months to September.

The previous year, the same period had produced a 616.8bn won loss.

Hynix said that chip prices rising at last had turned its performance around, with the back-to-school shopping spree in the US in particular producing an rise in sales of 27% over the previous year, and 20% on the three months to June.

And it predicted the end-of-year holiday boom would see things get even better.

The company also said its debts had narrowed slightly to 5.35 trillion won from 5.45 trillion won three months earlier.

The debts are the reason the firm is now 70% owned by its creditors.

The South Korean banks to which it owed tens of trillions of won arranged a debt-for-equity bailout in December 2002, following the collapse of a planned takeover by larger US rival Micron.

Despite the turnaround, there may still be trouble in store for Hynix.

Earlier this year, both the US and the European Union decided to apply extra tariffs on the company, accusing the South Korean government of unfairly subsidising the firm's business.